How Police Unions Fight Reform

Plus: Kanye’s running mate; Pandemic Legacy; and Walter Mercado. View in browser | Update your preferences Dept. of Law Enforcement How Police Unions Fight Reform Activists insist that police departments must change. For half a century, New York City’s P.B.A. has successfully resisted such demands. By William Finnegan From the Magazine Cover Story Grace Lynne Haynes’s “Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother” The artist discusses her début cover for the magazine, a portrait of the nineteenth-century women’s-rights activist. By Françoise Mouly Wyoming Postcard Who Is Kanye’s Running Mate? Residents of Cody, Wyoming—where Kanye West has a ranch—compare notes on Michelle Tidball, the local mystic who works in a dentist’s office and says she can communicate with God. By Charles Bethea Culture and More Cultural Comment The Comorbidities of the National Football League The league is attempting to survive the protest movements and the coronavirus pandemic in the way it always has: by banking on the devaluation of Black life. By Mik Awake Culture Desk The Board-Game Series for the Age of the Coronavirus Games have exploded in popularity during quarantine, but Pandemic Legacy is more than a diversion. By Neima Jahromi Culture Desk The Improbable Charisma of Walter Mercado A new Netflix documentary explores the life of an astrologer who defied all predictions. By Michael Schulman The Front Row A Showcase for Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, and Other Luminaries The cast of Allen Reisner’s 1958 bio-pic “St. Louis Blues,” about the composer W. C. Handy, is among the most distinguished in the history of cinema. By Richard Brody Humor and Puzzles Crossword Today’s Crossword First Book of the Month Club pick written by a Black American: nine letters. By Anna Shechtman Daily Cartoon Monday, July 27th By Benjamin Schwartz This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.